Since live waterfowl decoys were outlawed more than 75 years ago, inventors have worked to replicate the appearance of live birds with inanimate decoys. Efforts to create decoy movement have been the subject of many patents. Early efforts resulted in relatively ineffective decoy movements, like the slow head rotation of the decoy device described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,185,013 (Bonetti, 1939). In the following decades various decoys were developed with heads that could be manually rotated, or that wobbled or swiveled in response to wind movement. None of these approaches applied a powered rotation actuator to cause deliberate, energized and controlled rotation of a decoy head. Other decoy efforts have focused on ever increasing uses of energy to create vigorous movement to the decoys (such as decoys with spinning wings) or vigorous agitation of the water around the decoys. Unfortunately these vigorous motion approaches require significant electrical power and often create a level of noise and artificial movement that is unnatural and unpleasant in the natural waterfowl hunting setting. A rapid full rotation device is not desirable in a head movement application since full (360 degree) rotation of the head is unrealistic and somewhat disturbing.
Furthermore, the most problematic situation is one in which there is little or no wind, and therefore little or no decoy movement. This is a situation where the artificial drone of a mechanical/electrical device is most disturbing. This is also a situation where the present is most useful.
With eyes on the sides of their head, waterfowl lack binocular vision. They compensate by moving their heads rapidly from side to side, continuously getting images from both eyes. In a calm setting of ducks sitting on the water, these rapid head movements are surprisingly visible. The primary object of this invention is to provide beneficial decoy movement for these light or no wind situations, with limited noise and limited power consumption. The desired movement simulates the frequent and rapid side to side head movement that is typical of live ducks. These movements add sufficient movement to be noticeable, but not overpowering like a loud, rapidly spinning mechanical decoy wing. To be realistic these movements must be rotational—not merely “bobbing” of a pivoting head—and should at least sometimes occur with rapid rotational speed.